Edward Long (23 August 1734 – 13 March 1813) was an English-born British colonial administrator, slave owner and historian, and author of a highly controversial work, ''The History of Jamaica'' (1774). He was a polemic defender of slavery.
Life
Long was the fourth son of Samuel Long (1700–1757) of Longville, Jamaica, son of
Charles Long MP, and his wife Mary Tate, born 23 August 1734 at
St. Blazey, in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
.
His great-grandfather, Samuel Long, had arrived on the island in 1655 as a
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
in the English army of conquest, and the family established itself as part of the island's governing planter elite. His sister, Catherine Maria Long, married
Sir Henry Moore, 1st Baronet
Sir Henry Moore, 1st Baronet (7 February 1713 – 11 September 1769) was a British colonial leader who served as governor of Jamaica and as royal Governor of Province of New York from 1765 to 1769.
Early life
Moore was born in Vere Parish, Ja ...
(Governor of
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
), and Long, in Jamaica from 1757, became his private secretary.
In 1752 Long became a law student at
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
, and from 1757 until 1769 he was resident in Jamaica. During this period he explored inside the Riverhead Cave, the
Runaway Bay Caves and the Green Grotto. He was judge in the local
vice admiralty court
Vice Admiralty Courts were juryless courts located in British colonies that were granted jurisdiction over local legal matters related to maritime activities, such as disputes between merchants and seamen.
American Colonies
American maritime ac ...
, and briefly Speaker of the Assembly, elected 13 September 1768.
Long was an influential and wealthy member of British society, as well as an established Jamaican planter and slave owner. He moved permanently to England, in 1769, for health reasons.
Long died in 1813. He was a
polygenist
Polygenism is a theory of human origins which posits the view that the human races are of different origins (''polygenesis''). This view is opposite to the idea of monogenism, which posits a single origin of humanity. Modern scientific views no ...
who claimed that the
White race
White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view.
Description of populations as ...
was a different species to the
Black race.
''History of Jamaica''
Long's ''History of Jamaica'', first published in 1774 in three volumes but again in the 1970s, was his well-known work. This book gives a political, social, and economic account with a survey of the island, parish by parish from 1665 to 1774.
[''The History of Jamaica''](_blank)
McGill Queen's University Press, 2003. It is a comprehensive book, yet it contains some of the most virulent descriptions of Jamaicans and Africans in general. The book contains a racist description of American black slaves during the
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
. In a similar fashion to his contemporaries, Long's description of race discussed it as a "natural state" compared to the
Romantic period
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
.
Long, in his rather shocking descriptions argues that American 'Negroes' were characterised by the same "bestial manners, stupidity and vices which debase their brethren" in Africa. He maintained that "this race of people" is distinguishable from the rest of mankind in that they embody "every species of inherent turpitude" and imperfection that can be found dispersed among all other races of men. Unlike the most "abandoned villain" to be found in civilisation, argues Long, these peoples have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Racist views were widespread among European writers at the time, some of whom used to write detailed descriptions of Africans and Africa based only on accounts of missionaries and plantation owners. Long echoes
David Hume
David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...
and
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...
in his deeply racist descriptions of Africans and claims to find it astonishing that despite being subject to colonisation for a long time, the "Negroes" have failed to demonstrate any appreciation for the arts or any inventive ability. He observes that throughout the entirety of Africa, there are few natives who "comprehend anything of mechanic arts or manufacture", and those who do, perform their work in the manner of some under-evolved ape. This is due to them being "void of genius". However, his views, even for his time, were extreme. The book also contains descriptions of
interracial marriage
Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different races or racialized ethnicities.
In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United States, Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa as miscegenation. In 19 ...
. In the book he included a poem by
Francis Williams, which he then proceeds to criticise in an attempt to justify his theory of white racial superiority.
Family
In 1758, Long married Mary Ballard (d. 1797), daughter and heir of Thomas Beckford who was the brother of
Peter Beckford the younger, and widow of John Palmer of 'Springvale' in Jamaica. They had three sons and three daughters:
*Edward Beeston, who married Mary, daughter of
John Thomlinson
John Thomlinson (1692–1761) was an English clergyman best known for his diary, covering 1715 to 1722.
Life
Thomlinson was born in the small farming village of Blencogo, near Wigton, Cumberland, on 29 September 1692, the eldest son of William Th ...
M.P.
*Jane Catherine (d. 1825), who married Richard Dawkins, son of
Henry Dawkins
Henry Dawkins II (24 May 1728 – 19 June 1814) was a Jamaican plantation and slave owner and Member of the Parliament of Great Britain (MP).
Background
The Dawkins family settled on Jamaica shortly after its seizure from the Spanish in 1655. ...
M.P. of Standlynch
*Charlotte, who in 1791 married
Sir George Pocock, 1st Baronet
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
M.P.
*Elizabeth, who in 1801 married
Henry Molyneux-Howard M.P.
After the birth of their fourth child in 1769, the family returned to England.
Twin sons were born 1771 at
Chichester
Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...
:
*the elder,
Robert Ballard
Robert Duane Ballard (born June 30, 1942) is an American retired Navy officer and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island who is most noted for his work in underwater archaeology: maritime archaeology and archaeology of ...
, and
*Charles Beckford, who married Frances Monro Tucker.
Charles Edward Long
Charles Edward Long (28 July 1796 – 25 September 1861), was an English genealogist and antiquary.
Life
Born at Benham Park, Berkshire, he was the elder and only surviving son of Charles Beckford Long (d. 1836) of Langley Hall, Berkshire, and ...
was their son.
Edward Long died at Arundel Park,
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
, the seat of his son-in-law Henry.
Further reading
*
v.2v.3contentsInheriting the Earth: The Long Family's 500 Year Reign in Wiltshire; Cheryl Nicol
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Edward
History of the Colony of Jamaica
1734 births
1813 deaths
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
Jamaican planters
Historians of the Caribbean
18th-century Jamaican people
19th-century Jamaican people
18th-century Jamaican writers
19th-century Jamaican writers
British slave owners
Jamaican non-fiction writers